Direction indicator for golf putters



y 1962 H. F. PARTRIDGE 3,033,574

DIRECTION INDICATOR FOR GOLF PUTTERS Filed March 17, 1960 JNVENTOR. HQ "9 R arfr/dge BY 6Z2 United States atent ()fihce 3,633,574 Patented May 8, 1 962 3,033,574 DIRECTION INDICATOR FOR GOLF PUTTERS Harry F. Partridge, Barberton, Ohio Filed Mar. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 15,748 Claims. (Cl. 273-163) This invention relates to golf clubs, and in particular relates to a direction indicator for a golf putter.

Heretofore, devices have been provided for indicating to a golfer the proper direction for putting a golf ball into a cup on a golf green. Generally speaking, however, these have been more or less impractical because they were permanently incorporated into the putter blade and required the blade to be of special design. In other words, these devices could not be used on existing putters, and moreover, were of such character as to affect the balance of the blade on the shaft, and correspondingly affected the putting accuracy of the golfers. At least some of the'prior art deviceswere difficult to attach or adjust on the putters, or were so complicated as to be uneconomical to produce and sell.

One object of the present invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive device of the character described, which is quickly attachable to golf putters having blades of a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a golf putter direction indicator which is collapsible to compact size to be conveniently carried in the golfers pocket.

Another object of the invention is to provide a direction indicator which is of such light-weight construction that it will not materially affect the normal balance of the putter in use.

These and other objects of the invention will be manifest from the following brief description and the accompanying drawings.

0f the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a direction indicator, releasably attached to a golf putter.

FIGURE 2 is cross-section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, and illustrating a top plan view of the indicator.

Referring to the drawings generally, the numeral indicates a direction indicator embodying the features of the invention, mounted on a standard golf putter 11 having a blade 12 and a shaft 13.

The indicator unit 10 may include a supporting member 14 formed of thin, springy, sheet material, such as hard plastic or metal, to have a fiat horizontal portion 15 terminating in transversely spaced jaws 16, 16 for em bracing the lower end of the putter shaft 13, against the yielding resiliency of the springy material of the member, and thereby to support the flat portion 15 freely above the top edge 18 of the blade. For this purpose the jaws have oppositely arcuate portions 19, 19 for conforming to opposite sides of the shaft. Oppositely out-turned ends of the jaws facilitate insertion of the shaft 13 between the jaws. Portion 20 of the jaws may engage the corresponding front and rear portions of the blade to prevent the member from turning with respect to the shaft. The member, however, will be satisfactorily gripped without such engagement by the jaw portions 20, as when a particular shape of putter blade requires the member to be higher up on the putter shaft.

Pivoted at 21 to rotate about a vertical axis on the free end of the member portion 15, may be an elongated horizontally extending strip or element 22, of material similar to that of the member, to have a straight forward edge portion 23 adjustable to substantial parallelism or alignment with the plane of the striking face 25 of the blade. Also pivoted at 21, on top of element 22, may be an elongated pointer 26, of similar fiat strip material, adapted to be set to extend horizontally at right angles to the forward edge portion 23 of element 22. 'A pointed end 27 of the pointer may be presented forwardly of the edge portion .23. The pivotal connection between the several parts of the unit 10 preferably is sufficiently tight to retain said parts in various given positions of pivotal adjustment against the resiliency of a spring or lock washer 2.1a.

In use of the improved indicator unit 10, for putting a golf ball into a cup (not shown) on a golf course green, it is quickly clipped into relatively fixed position on the putter shaft B, by means of the yielding gripping jaws 16, and turned to suitable position about the shaft 13 to permit turning the straight edge element 22 on member 14, to align the straight edge portion 23 to substantial parallelism with the forward face of the blade, substantially as shown in FIGURE 2. The pointer 26 is then pointed at right angles to the straight edge portion 23, and hence likewise with reference to the front face of the putter blade. The golfer or user now lines the pointer 26 with the cup (not shown), while holding the bottom edge of the putter blade flatly on the green, thereby to position the front face of the putter blade 25 generally at right angles to the imaginary line indicated by the pointer to the cup. Now, the golfer, having placed a golf ball directly in front of the putter blade, and with a vertical plane through said imaginary line also passing the center of the ball, strokes the ball and follows through in known manner along said line, thereby to urge the ball directly toward the cup. With practice the golfer will soon learn the best angle at which to present the forward face of the blade toward the cup, or how much angle with respect to the imaginary line to allow for grade or curvature of the green in front of the cup.

Modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A direction indicator for a golf putter including a putter blade provided with a forward putting face, comprising a member having means for releasably attaching the same to the usual shaft of the putter to present a portion of the member to be adjacent the upper edge of said putter blade when the plane of the blade is generally in a vertical position of use thereof for putting, a straight edged element mounted on said member portion to be pivotally adjustable about a vertical axis to align the straight edge of said element horizontally with respect to the plane of the forward putting face of the putter blade, and a pointer on said element to indicate a horizontal putting direction angularly of said straight edge of the element and hence likewise angularly of said putting face of the putter blade.

2. A direction indicator for a golf putter including a putter blade provided with a forward putting face, comprising a member having means for releasably attaching the same to the putter to present a portion of the member to be adjacent the upper edge of said putter blade when the plane of the blade is generally in a vertical position of use thereof for putting, an element mounted on said member portion to be angularly adjustable in a horizontal plane and having guide portions thereby alignable with respect to said putting face of the blade, and means on said element for indicating a horizontal putting direction angularly of said putting face of the blade when said guide portions are aligned with respect to said putting face.

3. A direction indicator for a golf putter including a putter blade provided with a forward putting face, comprising a member having means for releasably attaching the same to the putter to present a portion of the member to be adjacent the upper edge of said putter blade when the plane of the blade is generally in a aoaas'ra vertical position of use thereof for putting, an element mounted on said member portion to be angularly adjustable in a horizontal plane and having guide portions thereby alignable with respect to said putting face of the blade, and a pointer pivotally mounted on said member to pivot horizontally for indicating a putting direction angularly with respect to straight line indicated by said guide portions and hence correspondingly angularly of said putting face of the putter blade.

4. A direction indicator for a golf putter including a putter blade provided with a forward putting face, comprising a member having means for releasably attaching the same to the putter to present a portion of the member to be adjacent the upper edge. of said putter blade when the plane of the blade is generally in a vertical position of use thereof for putting, an element mounted on said member portion to be angularly adjustable in a horizontal plane and having guide portions thereby alignable with respect to said putting face of the blade, and means on said element for indicating a horizontal putting direction angularly of said putting face of the blade when said guide portions are aligned with respect to said putting face, said means for releasably attaching including springpressed jaws on said member yieldingly to embrace the handle of the putter adjacent the blade.

5. A direction indicator for a golf putter including a putter blade provided with a forward putting face, comprising a member having means for releasablyattaching the same to the putter to present a portion of the member to be adjacent the upper edge of said putter blade when the plane of the blade is generally in a vertical position of use thereof for putting, an element mounted on said member portion to be pivotally adjustable in a horizontal plane and having guide portions thereby alignable with respect to said puttingface of the blade, and means on said element. for indicating a horizontal putting direction angularly of said putting face of the blade when said guide portions are aligned with respect to said putting face, said means for indicating including a pointer pivotally adjustable on the same center as said element, said means for releasably attaching said member including spring-pressed jaws on said member yieldingly to embrace the handle of the putter adjacent the blade.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,536,512 McLaren May 5, 1925 2,910,297 Bonetate Oct. 27, 1959 FOREIGN YATENTS 1 14,608 Great Britain 1964 

